Thursday, August 20, 2009

I was in Petsmart the other day to collect Sandy after her Hair & Nails appointment, and once again realized that there were hundreds of dog toys in that store.

Sandy has toys. Her best inside toy is a rope. I think I paid maybe $3.00 for the rope, which seemed extravagant. The phrase "money for old rope" came to mind. But, you can spend a lot more than that if you want to.

I've come to the conclusion that you can spend any amount of money on dog toys and the dogs will mostly want to play with the bag the toys came in. At least my dog.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Cherries are just about ready for harvest. Between the fireworks for Canada Day and the propane cannons to keep the birds from the cherries, Sandy has been spending a fair amount of time in her crate. Or under the dining room table.

This year has actually been better than past years. I've been giving Sandy some Rescue Remedy two or three times a day on noisy days, and we've been playing games during the fireworks. She's been lots calmer.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sandy and I are outside enjoying the summer weather. Finally, it's summer. I'm on the deck, working my way through my RSS feeds on the laptop, and Sandy is wandering around the yard.

Suddenly, a yelp and a jump...back. Sandy stepped on a bee!

She limped up the stairs and presented me with her left front paw. She whined a little. She let me put some ice on it for all of twelve seconds, then turned around, limped down the stairs...and ate the bee.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Eric and I went to Vancouver last month for ten days. It was good to be in a real city again, and there was lots to do. But Sandy stayed behind in a kennel.

When I dropped her off, she didn't look happy, but she didn't protest. When the owner came to escort Sandy to her quarters, Sandy wagged her tail and went along willingly.

When I picked her up, Sandy was so glad to see me she gave me the Wheten Greetin', which she learned years ago from her friend, a Wheten Terrier. It's kind of cute in a Wheten, but a little scary to see a 62 lb shepherd jumping as high as your head.

A week later, Sandy is still pretty subdued, and every time we leave the house she looks at us as if it could be the last time she'll ever see us. The hardest part is that we'll be away again for another ten days, and Sandy will be staying at the same kennel. I hope she'll be as happy to see me when I come to pick her up next time.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Long story short, the Parks department here in Kelowna has spent years making sure that dogs and their people never have adequate off-leash facilities. And until 2006, City Council let them get away with it. In 2006, City Council finally allowed dogs ON-leash to walk along the waterfront, but only after a trial period.

So this week, City Council will receive a report from the Parks people recommending that site under study for over two years should not be made available to dogs, and that three more off-leash areas be made available, but only on a trial basis. The site which won't be recommended would have been just the second off-leash area in Kelowna to provide dogs and their people access to Okanagan Lake. All this despite the fact that their own surveys indicate that most people who responded want dogs to have access to the lake somewhere, even the 50% who don't own dogs.

We have some new people on City Council, and a Mayor who has been a good friend to dog owners. There's an email campaign underway. We'll see if Council will assert themselves and direct City staff to do the right thing.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

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About Me

Cate is an American now living in Kelowna, BC (Canada) with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. She misses the Peet's Coffee and Mexican food that is so easy to find in her beloved San Francisco Bay Area. But not the traffic. Having given up driving way too fast, she still stays up too late and drinks far too much coffee.